Manitoba man who died after beanbag shooting had been asking for help, Vancouver police say – Winnipeg
Vancouver police say a person who died after officers used a beanbag shotgun on Monday had requested bystanders for assist following a “violent incident” that occurred moments earlier.
Police haven’t confirmed the person’s identification, however the household of Chris Amyotte, an Ojibwa man from Manitoba, says it was he who died on the Downtown Eastside.
Amyotte’s cousin, Samantha Wilson, stated witnesses advised her he had been bear-sprayed and was asking for assist earlier than police arrived on the scene, and Amyotte was unarmed.
Sgt. Steve Addison of the Vancouver Police Division stated the Impartial Investigations Workplace, B.C.’s police watchdog, had jurisdiction over the investigation.
Nevertheless, he stated the VPD believed the person who died “did ask for assist from quite a lot of bystanders, who didn’t provide help”
“When our officers arrived, they tried to speak with the person verbally. Witnesses have reported that there was a confrontation,” he stated in an emailed assertion Thursday.
Addison, who stated in a information convention on Monday {that a} beanbag shotgun had been used, known as the weapon “a secure and efficient less-lethal instrument.”
“It’s used as a substitute for deadly drive and will be deployed towards an individual who’s performing violently or displaying assaultive behaviour,” Addison stated within the assertion.
He stated the IIO would decide whether or not the person who died was in possession of a weapon, however “possession of a weapon is just not required for deployment of a beanbag shotgun.”
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples stated it was “livid” to listen to in regards to the loss of life.
Kim Beaudin, nationwide vice-chief with the group, stated in a press release Thursday that Amyotte’s loss of life was a tragedy that showcased the “deep and ongoing failures by police when coping with Indigenous folks in misery.”
“Indigenous persons are 10 instances extra prone to be shot and killed by police in Canada, and it’s time for it to cease,” he stated within the assertion.
Wilson stated Amyotte, who was from the Rolling River First Nation in Manitoba, arrived in Vancouver on Aug. 17 to go to members of the family. Days later, the household would be taught the daddy of seven had died, Wilson stated.
“It’s not one thing you anticipate to be advised. I’m very indignant,” she stated in an interview Thursday.
After listening to the information, Wilson stated she regarded on social media to see if she may get any extra data.
She stated she linked with eyewitnesses who advised her Amyotte was the sufferer of a bear-spray assault and that he was asking for assist when he eliminated a few of his clothes and commenced pouring milk on himself to try to counteract the spray.
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Household identifies man killed in ‘interplay’ with Vancouver police as Winnipeg father
A Vancouver police press assertion stated Monday {that a} man had been taken into custody after an “interplay” with officers, however he went into medical misery and misplaced consciousness.
“Regardless of life-saving makes an attempt, the person died on the scene,” the assertion stated.
The IIO stated Tuesday that it had been known as in to analyze the incident, which started with calls to police responding to a report of a person performing erratically. It stated it has begun an investigation to find out what function, if any, police actions or inactions performed within the man’s loss of life.
Wilson stated she wish to see the officers concerned held accountable.
“I’d wish to see them charged. He requested for assist quite a few instances. (The witnesses) stated he wasn’t a menace to public security, that he wasn’t making an attempt to harm anyone. They stated he had his arms up within the air earlier than he was shot. He didn’t have a weapon. He had a jug of milk in his hand,” she stated.
“He was an unarmed Indigenous man asking for assist and when assist arrived, they took his life.”
She stated Amyotte’s members of the family from Manitoba have travelled to Vancouver to assist prepare for Amyotte’s physique to be introduced again to Rolling River, the place he will probably be buried.
“My nieces and my nephews should dwell with out their father,” Wilson stated. “My household is at the moment making preparations to convey him residence and we don’t even know if these officers have been positioned on administrative go away, or in the event that they’re nonetheless working the streets. We don’t know something.”
Whereas the IIO stated it can’t touch upon particular circumstances, spokesperson Rebecca Whalen stated there have been 16 police shootings in B.C. since its fiscal yr started in April. This, she stated, has already doubled the eight shootings it investigated final yr.
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“There are extra (shootings) this yr,” she stated in an interview Thursday. “Now, I can’t speculate as to why that could be — there may very well be any variety of causes — however all we all know is that there was a rise this yr.”
Nevertheless, she famous a beanbag gun wouldn’t be categorized as a firearm capturing, and as a substitute would fall beneath the use-of-force class.
“We truly don’t monitor statistics on use of a beanbag gun particularly,” she stated.
In its 2021-22 annual report, the workplace cited 39 use-of-force incidents final yr. It stated use of drive was the “main trigger of great hurt at 28 per cent of all severe hurt investigations.”
